Thinking in the Cloudshttps://thinkingintheclouds.com
The Spiritual Guide: Changing your life, without changing your life
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1 http://wordpress.com/https://s0.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.pngThinking in the Cloudshttps://thinkingintheclouds.com
Beauty is not What it Seemshttps://thinkingintheclouds.com/2016/11/11/beauty-is-not-what-it-seems/
https://thinkingintheclouds.com/2016/11/11/beauty-is-not-what-it-seems/#commentsFri, 11 Nov 2016 10:41:11 +0000http://thinkingintheclouds.com/?p=84768I was inspired by an idea for a new new art project the other day whilst watching a wonderful film about nutrition. It was psychology used to best effect for media purposes, and even my daughter, who is resistant to any foods that don’t have sugar, was ready to throw her coco pops into the bin and get a juicing machine.

The project idea was about positive messages in advertising. Of course one immediately thinks that if people know what a diet of pizza will do (image of fat, lethargic, bad skin, and possibly bad teeth) then they will associate pizza with that image and will stop buying it. A second later one realises that people won’t even look at that image for one simple reason. It is the natural state for a human to seek positivity. Negativity requires effort. So no one wants to effort the negative image, rather they just assimilate a positive ‘beautiful’ one. Advertising obviously knows this, so they associate products with positive/beautiful images.

So then I started imagining broccoli being associated with an image of an beautiful happy family picnicking in a beautiful spot, or out riding on bikes – the message -> broccoli means beautiful, happy, normal, safe etc. Yes of course this would work, but there seems like something is intrinsically wrong. Is it that we perceive what is beautiful what we don’t see in ourselves and would most like to be? Looking at ‘beautiful’ is telling us what we think we are not.

For example – The Ferrari is practically worshipped by most men (not all) as the most beautiful car in the world. It represents sex, power, energy, speed, synergy, social strata, good looks, wealth etc. It embodies, all aspects in one way or another of what an individual man might feel they have and don’t have.

If this is true – then true beauty is a feeling not a seeing; it is the feeling of the massive creative force that is this universe of which we are a part; it is the feeling of this powerful creative force inside of us; it is the ‘wow’; it is that moment of total fulfillment, or total connection with the universe; it is the feeling of ‘one’.

What does this mean for making something artistically – I don’t know yet – just sharing

]]>https://thinkingintheclouds.com/2016/11/11/beauty-is-not-what-it-seems/feed/2melaniecowplandCollages3#trumpxithttps://thinkingintheclouds.com/2016/11/09/trumpxit/
https://thinkingintheclouds.com/2016/11/09/trumpxit/#respondWed, 09 Nov 2016 12:41:58 +0000http://thinkingintheclouds.com/?p=84766I was bought up in the establishment and to support it as the right way forward in governance. Yet I sit here listening to the news finding myself, as with the Brexit vote, happy with the results of the USA elections and wonder how did this happen.

I then saw a post on face book saying shame on the american people for voting for someone like Trump, and the penny dropped. This isn’t shame on the voting public this is shame on the establishment. Every aspect of our society run by the established ideas of what progress for the human race is, run by what we vaguely call the establishment made up of politicians who we vote in to positions of power to lead us in a direction that everyone can find benefit from. Sadly the establishment has become so money and power hungry that now many decisions and policies followed have a single goal involved – the increase of the bank balances of the individuals with in it and this is done through the deals done with corporations who have no interest in the welfare of the living (people, animals, plants, the planet as a whole) only in new ways to improve their own bank balances. Worse, the sense of self preservation of the establishment and the gravy train it has created, that propaganda is once more the main stay of information that delivered through the media like any healthy autocratic society that is intent on brainwashing the population so that it can continue its activities.

Is anyone really surprised that people are waking up and using their vote to rebel? Shame on the establishment and well done to all voters who are strong enough that they are using their vote to bring change what ever it might be, because that change can only be better than the greed that is destroying us as individuals, and the planet on which we rely on. What is absolutely certain is that we are never going to get change, we are never going to save the planet and come up with new solutions for a better way of living for everyone if we keep voting for people who have a complete disregard for these issues.

The time has really come for new ideas, new leaders, and a return to civil service where service to the community is the primary goal. Are we years away from this? I don’t know, but as a person who has become cynical about the continued existence of the democracy in a world run by the bank balances of the 1%, I am happy to see that regardless of the money being spent to keep people dumb to the scam, that the majority still have a voice and are now ready to start using it.

This is not the world falling apart – this is now a world that is starting to save itself. Well done to Brexit for leading the way, and well done American voters for picking up the momentum.

]]>https://thinkingintheclouds.com/2016/11/09/trumpxit/feed/0melaniecowplandDSC_0599The Stories We Tellhttps://thinkingintheclouds.com/2016/10/26/the-stories-we-tell/
https://thinkingintheclouds.com/2016/10/26/the-stories-we-tell/#respondWed, 26 Oct 2016 09:44:37 +0000http://thinkingintheclouds.com/?p=84762One’s reality is solely a collection of stories. Some of these stories are in agreement with others, and some are not and even those we hold in agreement, will have one’s own personal twist to it simply because of all the other stories held by one person compile to give a unique perspective on a given story.

So what does this mean as we conduct our lives and interact with others? It means that every story is flexible and is as much true as it isn’t true. It’s truth only exists in as long as one deems it to be truth and when holding a story to be truth, consciously and unconsciously, we seek evidence of that truth. If you want to make a story not true to you (only you because it may remain true to others and that isn’t your concern), then is requires conscious effort to seek evidence that makes the truth you want true.

To embrace this perspective (a new truth/story) means that you can come into the intrinsic understanding that you can only own your own truth, and appreciate that what others hold as stories can be truth to them, even if it isn’t in agreement with yours. This degree of respect for oneself and others is a major step in developing a happier healthier life. In a world where increasingly the need is to control others and their stories rather than one’s own stories, it can be a truly liberating experience and will begin opening the doors to discovering purpose and coming into the fullness of that which you are.

]]>https://thinkingintheclouds.com/2016/10/26/the-stories-we-tell/feed/0melaniecowpland21651-i-chose-to-be-happyThe Money Matrix and the Dawn of the Next Agehttps://thinkingintheclouds.com/2016/10/17/the-money-matrix-and-the-dawn-of-the-next-age/
https://thinkingintheclouds.com/2016/10/17/the-money-matrix-and-the-dawn-of-the-next-age/#respondMon, 17 Oct 2016 17:14:20 +0000http://thinkingintheclouds.com/?p=84744It is with out doubt that the obsession with money in this world is starting to reach a fever pitch with rich people getting richer and poor people getting poorer, with those on the middle just about keeping their heads above water (the money matrix). All 3 groups suffering from extreme states of stress, either about money itself, or about social narratives, or about personal relationships (or the lack of).

There are many who are looking from with in this matrix (dependant on the matrix as a child is dependant on a parent ) for a meaning to their lives and new spirituality and old religions are just as popular as ever. Whether it is the end of times, or the dawning of a new age, there are many who look on with anticipation at the end of the money matrix, knowing that the change coming is inevitable, drastic, and that they are powerless to stop or embrace.

Powerlessness, however, is a self imposed state. The truth is we are all powerful beings who can choose what we feel and what we focus on in every minute if we made the effort to learn how, and here is the wonderful paradox of our times. We know that the money matrix is not sustainable and it must change, however, it can’t change until we embrace our power of focus and feelings – which the money matrix demands us to learn if we truly want to feel purpose in our lives. It is at this point of transformation we start to break free of the matrix and can create a more sustainable future.

]]>https://thinkingintheclouds.com/2016/10/17/the-money-matrix-and-the-dawn-of-the-next-age/feed/0melaniecowplandimages (2)There is Always Perfect Timinghttps://thinkingintheclouds.com/2016/10/12/there-is-always-perfect-timing/
https://thinkingintheclouds.com/2016/10/12/there-is-always-perfect-timing/#respondWed, 12 Oct 2016 22:20:24 +0000http://thinkingintheclouds.com/?p=84692It is without doubt that everything happens precisely when it is supposed to happen to give one the best opportunity for a good outcome. We can stress about the watch and being on time, but whether you do that or not will not change the time you arrive. You will always be precisely where you are meant to be, not just for yourself and your journey, but also those lives who are affected by your passing.

This also is true of those experiences that we consider to be ‘bad’. Every bad experience will throw up a set of emotional responses that invariably led towards the experience so they could be expressed – these are the times you get an opportunity to actually address these emotional issues.

The feelings of rejection, abandonment and not being loved (because parents love someone/something else more) are perhaps the most common feelings, and one can extrapolate from these, isolation and separation. From our subjective experience of life, it can take many years for us to identify what is active in our behaviours, but the wonderful thing to know is that they will always present at the perfect time for you to deal with them. One doesn’t have to force any emotional healing, because you are already programmed to heal at the precisely the right time for you to heal.

So if you think you are broken, and you have tried to fix yourself but seem to be failing to do so. Stop trying, and be patient. The issues you wish to address will happen precisely when they are meant to in order for you to deal with them, and no amount of trying will bring that moment forward. In the same way one wouldn’t ruin a Saturday morning watching the clock for a 2pm meeting – no amount of clock watching is going to change the time of the meeting.

So take a deep breath next time you are watching the clock or sitting in therapy or waiting for a train. Enjoy the moment for what it brings rather than worry about what it doesn’t bring, because the moment will never bring you something you expect – that is the adventure of life.

]]>https://thinkingintheclouds.com/2016/10/12/there-is-always-perfect-timing/feed/0melaniecowplandDSC_1274Yay! Back in the Saddle!https://thinkingintheclouds.com/2016/10/04/yay-back-in-the-saddle/
https://thinkingintheclouds.com/2016/10/04/yay-back-in-the-saddle/#respondTue, 04 Oct 2016 10:38:49 +0000http://thinkingintheclouds.com/?p=84689I’ve not blogged here in a long while now. Gone, but I hope not forgotten so much that picking it up again is going to be too much of a shock to you!

This last year and a half has been busy to say the least preparing and taking a journey across Africa with my 10-year-old daughter on a motorbike and side car. Certainly a lot of growth has happened for me. At times it didn’t seem like it though. At times it was stressful, frustrating, and exhausting. My mental state was absorbed in being a mother, so everything I was doing and thinking was coming from that origin, and creative endeavours took a back seat.

There is a lot to be said for stepping out of one’s cocoon that we create around us; for doing something that is completely different and exposes us to real life and real people we would not otherwise have met. Both my daughter and I have come back tangibly different. Happier within ourselves; somehow more fulfilled and, as I turn my mind back to blogging on this site again, I realise that I have come back with a deeper and clearer view of the world around us and perhaps that is because travel, by default, exposes you to the flow of the energy and confirms what is known and exposes you to experiences that challenge and develop that knowledge and thinking about how that energy flows, it’s purpose.

I don’t know what blogs will flow from me from this point onwards. I hope they are thought-provoking, maybe insightful, and perhaps at times inspiring. What ever comes next – it is good to be back at my desk writing again!

]]>https://thinkingintheclouds.com/2016/10/04/yay-back-in-the-saddle/feed/0melaniecowpland20160801_154041Video Blogging 0001 – A Beginninghttps://thinkingintheclouds.com/2015/03/18/video-blogging-0001-a-beginning/
https://thinkingintheclouds.com/2015/03/18/video-blogging-0001-a-beginning/#respondWed, 18 Mar 2015 00:43:12 +0000http://thinkingintheclouds.com/?p=55615My apologies for my silence of late. Life is busy and, whilst I have had a thousand ideas for articles to blog, I simply haven’t had the time focus to write them. So alas, it seems logical to start a new format that is both different and, I hope, a little entertaining at times

]]>https://thinkingintheclouds.com/2015/03/18/video-blogging-0001-a-beginning/feed/0melaniecowplandThe Egohttps://thinkingintheclouds.com/2015/02/17/the-ego/
https://thinkingintheclouds.com/2015/02/17/the-ego/#respondTue, 17 Feb 2015 01:01:06 +0000http://thinkingintheclouds.com/?p=25979When we hear about the ego we think of an abstract idea that is very difficult to associate with the actual experience of being human. We are aware that we have certain patterns of responses and that those responses may be ego manifestation, but beyond that we don’t what it feels like, or to recognise when it is at work within and so going out to the world.

So here is a really simple definition of ‘Ego’ – Fear. The fact that fear has been given a separate word for its manifestation in being human has actually only served to confuse more than help. So by accepting that ego is in fact a fear response, then your first acknowledgement to yourself is that you are perceiving and responding to the world with fear every time you are feeling a negative emotion.

By negative emotion it could be anything from ‘meh’ and boredom, to suicidal depression and all emotions/feelings experienced within that spectrum. Even with out a high level of emotional awareness, you are aware when you are feeling resistance to an idea, action or experience. You know, if nothing else, when you are not feeling contentment, happy or anticipation.

The tricky thing about ego is that as a fear response, it becomes self protecting out of fear. What happens if I don’t view the world as a threat? – fear response – I better stay with what I know than what I don’t know = no change is made in finding your now moment of peace.

Remember fear is a result of a past experience about future events. It is not necessary to know what the past experience is – only to know that you are focused on responding to your future in this moment with fear. As you become aware of it, the simple affirmation is to say – I am feeling fear right now in this moment, I don’t know why or where it comes from (even if you do know it isn’t necessary to acknowledge the why or where because they don’t exist in your now), but I’m ok with this fear, I can BE this fear.

If you would like to have a good analogy of accepting ego (fear) then read the story about Buddha’s moment of enlightenment. He becomes intrinsically aware of his ego and the battle that it is raging against him. As he accepts his ego (stops fighting it), so the fear (manifest in the visual demon attack) dissipates. What is interesting to note is that he didn’t rid himself of ego straight away in this story. And whilst the story it was 3 moments of awareness of ego, it is highly likely that he practiced it far more and over a number of years.

]]>https://thinkingintheclouds.com/2015/02/17/the-ego/feed/0Doves-doves-31209074-1024-768melaniecowplandNew location for Africa With Autism Bloghttps://thinkingintheclouds.com/2015/02/16/new-location-for-africa-with-autism-blog/
https://thinkingintheclouds.com/2015/02/16/new-location-for-africa-with-autism-blog/#commentsMon, 16 Feb 2015 14:23:30 +0000http://thinkingintheclouds.com/?p=25991I have now set up Africa With Autism with it’s own blog. Please follow this link: https://adventurewithautism.wordpress.com/

I will be removing this section of Thinking in the Clouds in 4 weeks from date of this post.

]]>https://thinkingintheclouds.com/2015/02/16/new-location-for-africa-with-autism-blog/feed/2images (5)melaniecowplandWords vs Experiencinghttps://thinkingintheclouds.com/2015/02/02/words-vs-experiencing/
https://thinkingintheclouds.com/2015/02/02/words-vs-experiencing/#respondMon, 02 Feb 2015 01:01:12 +0000http://thinkingintheclouds.com/?p=20566I had a conversation the other day that really high lighted a key issue that many are having with spiritually orientated text or spoken word. Perhaps it is the delivery of the information, or it is the receiver of it, either way I don’t really want to get into that discussion. What I think is more important is that a distinction is made to help those who are wondering why spirituality isn’t working out for them so well.

The written or spoken word is an abstract, linear interpretation of an experience. Communicating something in this format takes place because we have long forgotten our telepathic ability to convey, and experience, information in a multidimensional way. The more involved you are with this linear reality, the more you focus on the linear communication in a literal abstract way. So many times I have heard people quoting religious or spiritual text, not because they have experienced the actual truth of what the text is conveying, but rather because they feel there is a truth there, have analysed to some degree and come to a conclusion based on their own limiting beliefs.

These words were not meant to be used in this way. These words are trying to convey an experience, to inspire one to that place where that experience is accessible. Yes you can follow process a,b and c and see some improvement in your life after a long period time practicing, but until you open yourself up to the experience that is you, you will not feel the full impact of what the words are trying to convey. In effect you remain and student, and never become a teacher. There are several high profile ‘teachers’ at the moment who are in the segment of student, so focused are they on the linear word rather than the 3 dimensional experience. Over the coming months I will write a segment on them in the Spiritual Review section of this blog.

I am not writing these words to criticize in anyway – rather I am wanting to point out something to help you into your own awareness of the experience that is you. The more students who become teachers, the stronger we become as a society as we become more focused on using our experiential existence to bring positive change.